January 3 College Roundup

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Illinois had a late run to get within 10 points in the final minute but could not overcome a big first half Eastern Kentucky run as the Panthers fell in Richmond, 65-54, Thursday night.

The Panthers return to action on Saturday night with a 6:30 p.m. contest at Morehead State.  EIU falls to 3-12 overall, 0-2 in the OVC.  EKU improved to 11-3, 1-0 in the OVC.

Both teams opened shooting over 80 percent from the floor prior to the first media timeout.  Tarius Johnson scored six of his 11 first half points for EKU as they led 11-10 at the 15:23 mark.  Malcolm Herron had a pair of buckets for EIU combined with 3-pointers by Taylor Jones and Alex Austin.

Following a bucket by Herron, Marcus Lewis scored the next six points for EKU as the Colonels went on a 16-2 run over the next 12 minutes.  Johnson and Mike DiNunno drained 3-pointers for EKU in that run.  EKU led 35-18 at the half shooting 52 percent from the field.  EIU cooled off to shot 35 percent in the half.

EIU turned the ball over twice to open the second half before the Panthers responded with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 13 points.  Morris Woods finished off a three point play with 15:52 to play as EKU lead 39-26.  Woods had 15 points to lead EIU.  Josh Piper added 10 and Herron 9.

EKU responded to the EIU run with a bucket by Lewis and 3-pointer by DiNunno to push the Colonels lead back to 44-26.  DiNunno had 13 points hitting 4-of-7 from 3-point range.  Lewis had 11 points for EKU and Tarius Johnson had 13.

Austin Akers capped an 8-3 run by EIU that cut the lead to 14 points at 8:07 as DiNunno again answered with a 3-pointer.  EKU finished the night 9-of-23 from beyond the arc shooting 39.1 percent.

Both teams finished with 26 rebounds as Sherman Blanford pulled down nine rebounds for the Panthers.  Both teams shot 21-of-46 from the floor for 45.7 percent.

Morehead State 68, SIUE 64

MOREHEAD, Ky. – Maurice Wiltz scored 16 points in his return to the lineup Thursday night, but it wasn't enough as Morehead State defeated SIUE men's basketball 68-64 in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both schools.

SIUE dropped to 5-7 overall and 0-1 in the OVC with Thursday's loss. Morehead State improved to 7-8 overall and 1-0 in the OVC.